I'll take two please

Seriously, how cute are these? They are laptop covers that look like books! Not only are they super protective, but they would be so adorable on your nightstand, right? Of course, I'd choose the vibrant red! And it has the cutest name, the "BookBook."

Love it. Want it.

Too bad it is nearly $80. :-(

Tuesday.

I am not loving the return of winter. Last week's 50 degree Saturday was fabulous. Is it too early to start a countdown to vacation? I'm ready for some sunshine, some waves, and some sand in my toes.

Jimmy Buffet's "I gotta go where it's warm" is playing on repeat in my office today. Ok, it's not really because it's not really appropriate for a law office, but it's definitely on repeat in my mind.

Ah well. We've got a ways to go before it's warm here in Ohio! In the meantime, why don't you enjoy these pictures of me and my sister back in the old days? Lovely, no? To this day I wonder why our mailman used to call us boys...oh wait. Pretty sure I am rocking a sweet mullet in that first pic. And, yes, those sunglasses made the outfit. Duh.Here we are in 1992 at the beach!!! Once again, hair is amazing-including my mother's. Seriously, who cut our hair? Yikes.

Amen.

A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book.
-Irish proverb

Is it bad that I look forward to crawling into bed each night? I absolutely adore those moments before I fall asleep, reading a book...looking through a magazine...all comfy with Fi* curled up next to me.

It's no wonder I go to bed so early!

*It should be noted that said canine almost lost her life at the hands of her master this morning after I had to carry her back to the house in the pouring down rain. Apparently, "the princess" (as she will now be known) detests going #2 in the rain, and once she has (after being walked all the way up the street) refuses to walk back to the house and must be carried there!

Sunday is for Soup

I love my crock pot. I use it all the time. Yesterday, I decided to make some soup to have for lunches this week and came up with this recipe. Super easy. Nutritious and very filling!

Vegetable Tortellini Soup

Ingredients
1 Green Pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 Cup (2 stalks) celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 Cup frozen green beans
1 can diced tomatoes w/ basil and oregano
1 can canellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 palmful dried basil
2 cans fat free, reduced sodium chicken broth (14 oz cans, each)
9 oz. package refrigerated cheese tortellini

Directions
Heat olive oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium high heat. Add green pepper, onion, celery and garlic and saute until onions are translucent-about 5 minutes. Add mixture to crock pot. Add remaining ingredients, except the tortellini. Cook on LOW for 7 hours. When cooking is complete, add in tortellini and heat on low for 20-25 minutes, until tortellini is tender.

Top with some Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

The name game.

I haven't decided whether to change my name after Steve and I get married in June. I know, I'm terrible, right? While I wouldn't go as far as this author and say my name is my identity, it is rather strange to think of myself as no longer Liz B. I mean, this is the name I've had for nearly 30 years. I have a smattering of published case opinions with this name. More importantly, there's that 4x800 meter relay junior varsity league record still lingering out there from my freshman year in high school...

I kid. But, I kind of don't. I just don't know. I'm leaning towards changing it. I mean, it makes sense. We will be joined together as one (that phrase kind of makes me nauseous). We will be a new "family" for all intents and purposes. It's easier when dealing with joint accounts and things of that nature.

But, does it really mean I'm less of a wife if I don't take my husband's name? Everybody seems to have an opinion on it. My mother just assumed I'd change my name and when I mentioned I wasn't sure, she seemed thrilled. (Remember-my mother is a big feminist!). And then I have friends who seemed shocked that I'd even consider not taking Steve's name. At work it's a much higher percentage of women who keep their name professionally. So, I don't know what to do.

Either way I go, I'll tell you this much-it is just a name. Whether I'm Elizabeth Brashear or Elizabeth Fuller, come June, I'll still be me.

And it must be nice to be a man and never even have to consider this type of dilemma!

Grey.

It's so grey outside. These next few months are so hard, right? There's little to get excited about with all the lack of sunshine, frigid temperatures, end of football, and long string of 5-day work weeks ahead.

BUT...there's some things to be cheery about...

1. LOST returns Feb. 2 and I could not be more excited. I hope Penny and Desmond make a big return-they are my favorites.

2. Girl Scout cookies. Yes. I placed my order yesterday and come mid-February I will have 2 boxes of thin mints, a box of Samoas (aka caramel delites) and a box of shortbread (aka trefoil). Delightful. And they will come at just the time I am tired of trying to "eat healthy". He he.

3. Triple pay. I get paid 3 times in January since I get paid every other Friday. Sweeeeeeet. (Although I think there is some big upcoming event where most of that money is going...)

4. 12 whole hours of vacation to use before May when they expire. What to do, what to do! I'm thinking 1/2 day on Good Friday and the Friday before President's Day to give my self a 4 day weekend. That'd be nice in February!

5. My new steam mop. Yes, one of my favorite presents this Christmas is a cleaning device! I haven't tried it out yet and I think this weekend will be a perfect time to debut this fancy new toy.

Hmm. That's all I've got. Spring will be here before we know it, right?

Let's hope.

Did you know...

The average wedding costs $27,800-not counting the honeymoon or engagement ring!? (Source: the knot)

That made me laugh (read: choke) a little while I was eating my lunch and browsing the "budget" section on the knot's website. They categorize "budget" weddings as anything less than $20,000. Ummmm, right.

Weddings are funny. Attach the word "wedding" to any service or product and all of a sudden there's a huge mark up in cost. "Wedding" cakes are way more expensive than a custom birthday cake, for example.

And, of course, wedding dresses. Fun to look at and try on, but scary to look at the price! I'm already quite anxious about going to a bridal store to try on dresses and having to tell the consultant my budget is actually not 4 (or 5) figures. (I tried going the JCrew route with my wedding dress and avoiding the bridal boutiques all together, but the dress I ordered proved to be a bit "brides gone wild" as it was completely see through. Not exactly the theme I had in mind...)

It is fun, though... :) And, there's hope-this lovely ensemble is in my price range (hat-veil included)! Yes!

Blog Neglect

Woops. I haven't blogged in eleven days! And so much excitement has happened.

The rumors are true, I got UGGS for Christmas!

Oh, and I also got engaged. ;-)

More to come. Instead, I will use the holidays and my return to work post-Christmas as my excuse for failing to blog.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! We'll be celebrating the best way I can think of-with friends, at home, with games and lots of delicious bacon-based food dishes, complimented by Steve's fudge. Yay.

Yum.

May I recommend these cookies for your Christmas cookie baking? They are absolutely delicious and look beautiful on a cookie tray because they are all white-you don't use any brown sugar. So, they look very wintery. Oh, and they taste incredible. This is my Aunt Liz's recipe...she is very particular about her ingredients, but it makes a difference.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. sour cream

1/4 c. butter, softened

1/4 c. shortening (I use butter flavor Crisco)

1 t. vanilla (I use only the best Mexican vanilla such as Azteca)

1 egg

2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

1 1/2 cup white chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli)

1 cup roughly chopped macadamia nuts

 

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Beat sugar, sour cream, butter, shortening, vanilla, and egg in large bowl.  Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt.  Stir in chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.

 

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until set and just beginning to brown.  Cool 1 to 2 minutes;  remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

MORE IMPORTANTLY...Congratulations Jana and Justin! Thank you for letting us all celebrate with you on Friday night.

 

It takes a real man...

to go see The Nutcracker ballet with his girlfriend and not complain and gripe the entire time, or fall asleep.

Steve is a real man-not one complaint, and he even made me dinner beforehand. The Nutcracker was absolutely beautiful. Loved it.

Fi and the Tree

The first year I had Fi, we took a picture together in front of the fire and I actually used it in my Christmas card! Ha! It was hilarious. None of that this year, but I put on Fi's pretty Christmas bandana and thought she might like a little photo shoot in front of the tree. (Ok, truth be told, I was looking for ANYTHING to do but clean my bathroom...) 

Enjoy! You can click on the picture to enlarge.

*Note, clearly I am not a photographer and I am unable how to figure out how to photograph a Christmas tree without the subject in front being completely black!

More weird dreams.

Nothing too much new here. I had one more dream with Brandon in it. Then, last night, I had a dream that I gave birth to a dog. I mean, what? I didn't dream the actual "birth," but I had a dog that was like my child. I feel like I may need to schedule a mental check-up. Sometimes I go weeks at a time without remembering dreams and then WOW I'll have some real crazy ones.

Fiona was also having some crazy dreams. She woke me up at 3AM last night with muffled barks-I leaned over to tell her to shut her yap and saw she was sleeping. Interesting...

At about the same time, I checked my phone to learn the outcome of the Steelers' game. I then proceeded to lie awake for a half hour asking God "WHY?" I really felt sick about it. Hopefully 9 months will give the Steelers some time to get healed up from all the injuries. In the interim, I'm sure I will suffer all sorts of jabs and nasty remarks from "friends" and my boyfriend. Yay. GO VIKINGS!

What's in a dream?

The past two nights I've dreamt that I am in an episode of Beverly Hills 90210 and I am Brandon's girlfriend.

Does this mean I've been watching too many reruns after work in the evenings?

*I ALWAYS would pick Brandon over Dylan! I never understood why girls had crushes on Dylan. His life was a mess!

Check it out.

Have you seen this website? www.givesmehope.com

Read it. You will love it.

The Simple Things

We are officially in the Advent season-the season of waiting. But, it always ends up feeling like the season of rushing, doesn't it? Parties, shopping, cooking, decorating...and the list goes on. While those things can certainly feel burdensome at times, generally I really enjoy this time of year. I like participating in the season way more than some fancy gift under the tree.

On Friday, I strung the lights (all 1200 of them) on my parents' Christmas tree, and then as a family (with my Grandma there, too!), we put on all the ornaments, laughing and reminiscing as we went. My parents' tree is filled with ornaments they've collected over the years on travels or at important milestones, so it's really special to put up. It's certainly not a "decorative" tree, but it's sentimental, and those are the best kind. And yes, we could fill an entire tree with Outer Banks' ornaments!

Then, on Saturday, Steve and I went and picked out a tree for my house-my first real tree! It took me quite a while to string the lights on this one, and I was oh, slightly (read very) annoyed when we went to plug in the lights and half of one strand was completely out. Steve fiddled with the lights and even switched the fuse to no avail! But, with a fire blazing in the background, and Jingle All the Way on television (did you know there is a Christmas movie featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger? I didn't!), the ornaments were put on and now it's beautiful and smells incredible. We watched Love Actually first, but the process took so long we needed a second movie! Apparently Jingle All the Way is one of Steve's favorites.

Anyway, I was thinking yesterday that those are the things I love about Christmas. The little, simple things like putting up a Christmas tree, making Christmas cookies, watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer make this season magical. And no gift under the tree, no matter how sparkly, could replace the memories that come from the simple things at Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

*I'm really glad to see dogs were welcome at the first Thanksgiving table!

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

A long weekend and delicious food...what could be better?

I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving! I actually have work off on Friday (woohoo!) an am very excited to spend time with family and friends this weekend. Oh, and put up my first real Christmas tree! I have so much to be thankful for this year-I really have so much and am so blessed.

10 days

Wow, it's been 10 days since I've written a blog post. The two people who read have probably stopped. Last week was very busy and parts of it were kind of frustrating so I didn't really feel like blogging! 10 things that have happened since Nov. 12...

1. The Steelers lose again. Goodness. It'll be a miracle to make it to the playoffs.

2. New Moon = awesome! More awesome were the howling women when Jacob took off his shirt for the first time in the movie. Ha!

3. Christmas decorations are up...except of course for the Christmas tree. I just love this Christmasy time of year!

4. I made a delicious cranberry upside down cake. Yummy. I could've cooked it a bit longer, though. But, yum. 

5. I am almost done with my Christmas shopping. It feels great. I did most of it online, which is even better. Why are men so much harder to shop for than women? 

6. It's not Thanksgiving without a Turkey Trot in the morning. I've got a 5 miler on Thursday and I'm excited-like the 15th or 16th consecutive year of running one. The perfect excuse to pig out on Turkey day.

7. 3 day work week. Woohoo! And all casual days, too. Yay jeans.

8. My best friend from college had a baby this past week! She's about 8 weeks early, so she's a preemie, but she's doing much better now. 

9. A perfect Saturday night involves North & South on DVD, a fire in the fireplace and 11 hours of sleep! Love it.

10. I beat Steve at Jeopardy on Thursday. Don't let him tell you otherwise.

Ida

So hurricane Ida is wreaking havoc on my favorite place on the planet. Lots of rain, violent winds, and storms are hammering coastal Carolina and Virginia Beach. You know it's not good when the weather channel is broadcasting from Nags Head, NC.

Sadness. This precarious little piece of beach is so fragile being basically a strip of sand in between to bodies of water (and one being the Atlantic Ocean!). One day it will erode away (I know all about it-I did a huge project on beach erosion in the Outer Banks for my 5th grade science fair!). In fact, the lighthouse at Cape Hatteras (one of the most famous in America) has been moved back several times due to the beach eroding away. For many years you couldn't even climb it as a tourist because it was so dangerous.

I will say, though, it's always crazy to see the houses that get torn up in these storms. Some of them are literally steps away from curling waves on a calm day, so when the storms come and the waves are gigantic, these little cottages don't stand a chance. Several years ago after Hurricane Isabel, my family and I came upon a home that was missing the entire back wall! But, you could still see inside to the kitchen bedrooms, etc. Crazy.

The houses weren't originally built that close to the water, but over time, the hurricanes have brought the water that close to the houses.

This is the house from Nights in Rodanthe. Many people believe it will be one of the next ones to be demolished by storms.

I've always wanted to save up so that I could one day buy a house in the Outer Banks, but hurricane season is the reason I'll probably never be able to afford it-insurance!

Veterans Day

I remember one summer when my parents took my sister and I on a tour of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania on our way to the beach. I was absolutely mesmerized. I couldn't fathom how frightening it would be to engage in head-on combat, knowing odds are pretty good you might die. Of course, I've always been interested in history, but I couldn't believe so many men had died there-right in the field where I stood. I still would love to visit other Civil War battlefields, mostly because I am a huge dork.

As the saying goes "one death is a tragedy, one thousand deaths is a statistic," it's hard to grasp the real cost of our freedom in America. I rarely consider what a huge sacrifice veterans have made, whether or not they were injured or killed in a war. So, it's fitting to have a day to commemorate just that.

Though, I must say, it'd be much nicer to do this from the comfort of my home and not at work!

I guess I will be wearing a pants suit to court Friday.

I was nearly done with my 5 mile run this morning. Six houses away from my own where I could finally stop and stretch when BAM, I was on the ground. Ankle twisted. Knee and hip throbbing. Shorts torn at the hip (fabulous!). And of course, a gentleman was getting into his car for work and witnessed the entire thing.

Usually, I trip because I am clumsy. This morning, though, I tripped because of a huge pot hole. They cover my street. And the man who witnessed my fall said he has tripped over the exact same pot hole several times.

I realize the city of Cincinnati has some budgetary problems. But, fixing streets inundated with pot holes should be a priority. It's dangerous. I'm willing to bet the flat tire I had earlier this year is a result of the condition of my street.

You better believe I'm sending a letter. It's already drafted. :) (I did not take pictures of my hip bruise/cut as it would be highly inappropriate for the public. But, I assure you, it is worse than my knee.

At least the Steelers won last night.